My friends have a tradition of celebrating "friendsgiving" sometime during the weekend after Thanksgiving. We have a big feast (with plenty of wine) and celebrate our friendship. This has become one of my favorite traditions. Levi and I bond in the kitchen, we drink a whole lot of wine, and everyone has a lot of fun. This year we shared our funniest family thanksgiving moments, which was really quite funny.
I guess I should explain this last photo. We had a lot of whipped cream leftover and Staci made a joke about pulling a Mrs. Doubtfire. She went to but a little bit on her nose and Levi pushed the spoon into her face so she ended up with a big dollop on her face. We all laughed really hard and when Staci washed her face off she did notice that her skin was softer. New skin-care regimen?
So remember when my niece Rosie had her sleepover a couple of weeks ago and she requested we make cookies and brownies which resulted in the quite popular Cookiebrowniecupcakes?
This weekend is our niece Anna's turn for a sleepover and she requested Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner and she wanted to make cookies and brownies sandwiched together with chocolate chips. haha these girls. So tonight I'm going to try some cookie/brownie whoopie pies and see what she thinks. I think these will be better than the cookiebrowniecupcakes and Anna loves her frosting so she'll love these. We're going to make these brownie mix cookies and some easy refridgerated chocolate chip cookies and then sandwich them together with some frosting. I have some leftover peanut butter frosting that is dying to get in on this action. It should be really fun and yummy!
My goals/plans this weekend:
Super fun sleepover with Anna.
Finish the last row on the blanket I'm working on.
Catch up my granny a day blog posts - I totally dropped the ball this week.
Work on a guest post DIY
Photo some upcoming blog posts
Take Dash to the vet for his last round of puppy shots.
Have a crafty friends date.
Be a zombie for an evening.
Go to the gospel drag brunch.
Start teaching Dash to shake. (He's mastered Sit, speak and Lay Down.)
Do you have any big weekend plans? Notice blogging this weekend is not one of my plans, haha I'll see you all on Monday!
My in-laws surprised us with an 11-week-old Jack Russell puppy this weekend. They have had him for two weeks with the hope that we would want him to be a part of our family. Sheldon's dad named him after Dash Riprock from the Beverly Hillbillies haha and also thought Dash and Dewey were good names for new brothers.
We're still in trial mode. Dewey is really nervous about this new addition (you can see it in his face above) and we don't want him to continue to be stressed out. So if things don't work out in a few weeks, Sheldon's parents will be taking him back.
Neither of us has had a puppy in forever! I forgot how needy they are and how much you have to watch them. Dash is really good, but is full of energy when he's awake. We're both getting really good at taking him outside to run him down. Since he's a puppy he get tired pretty quickly. When he's older we'll start taking him to the dog park so he can get his energy out with other dogs. We're working on manners, learning that night time is for sleeping, making sure pottying happens outside (he's pretty much house broken already), and learning that Dewey is an old grump and doesn't want to play.
Things may be a little slow around here until we get in a good rythym with Dash. We have to either separate both the dogs or watch them like hawks when they are together so Dewey doesn't snap at Dash so there is little time left for crafting or blogging.
Gay pride from the view of uninformed onlookers is seen as a time of lewd debauchery and parades of rainbows, and while this may be the case at times, (we've all had our fair share of drunken rainbow celebrations right?) I wanted to take the time to use this month of gay pride to publicly say how very proud I am to know you and have you in my life.
Knowing each of you has made me a better person. Here are a few things I have learned from our years of friendship: - Compassion - How to have an open heart and mind - Love comes in many forms - Everyone should celebrate Friendship Friday, Anything Can Happen Saturday, Sunday Funday, and Boozy Monday - How to make the best gin punch in the entire world - A sucky past/childhood doesn't define your future - A cal king bed can sleep 8 comfortably... 12 uncomfortably - Walking in heels is an art form that I may never conquer - What true acceptance really is - It's ok to have fun and let loose occasionally - Taking life too seriously just makes you boring - Being single can be awesome as long as you have awesome friends - Self confidence - Every fight can be settled with a walk-off - Friendsgiving is so much better than Thanksgiving - Every girl should have a gay best friend (or three!)
There's so much more you have taught me but I think these sum up our relationships the best.
Not only have I grown, but I've had the pleasure of watching you all grow up as well. I've been there through your time of pretending you were something you were not, your first loves, and your coming out to family and friends. I cried with you when you finally came out to me and told me I'd always be number one on your myspace friends. I was there when you got kicked out of our alma mater and let you move in with me when you had to grow up a little faster than you may have wanted to. I love giving you make-up lessons. I'll always be your big sister who says "maybe that's not the greatest idea, " but loves you even after you do it any way.
You were there for me when I thought no one loved me. You told me I was beautiful when no one else did. You have saved me from many poor fashion decisions (and continue to do so to this day). You send me random texts to tell me you love me. You'll trade me shoes when my heels hurt my feet so bad they start to go numb. You made me feel like a princess long before Sheldon was there to make me feel that way. You always make me laugh and your tweets make me smile. For all these things, I am so glad we are friends family.
I'm sorry for the world we live in, the hatred that you have to put up with, and the mean looks and words that have been thrown your way. I will continue to be your biggest advocate and stand up with you for equality.
Having you in (and at) my wedding was the best wedding gift I could have asked for. Knowing these wonderful men who were there with me throughout years of singledom and nights of crying because someone didn't love me as much as I loved him were there with me on the happiest day of my life meant more to me than you will ever know! One day I will return the favor. I'll spend hours in the heat to make your wedding perfect. I'll even make sure the fan tags are all turned one way ;) ... I promise!
This may be so very cliche but Cyndi Lauper is the shiz and this song is perfect. And it randomly came on my google music player and I totally started bawling like a little baby and then it made me realize I HAD to write this post. Not only to show you boys how much you mean to me, but to show everyone my true colors as well.
Each and every one of you are beautiful like a rainbow ;) hahaha Ok that was really taking it too far.
Love,
Your FruitFli, sister, and friend forever -- Dana
Dear readers, I cried many times while writing this post and I really don't want to cry from reading a hateful comment. Please be kind or move on.
Last Sunday, Sheldon and I went to the zoo with our nieces and his sister. Our goal was to see the new baby elephant, Malee. Sadly we didn't make it there until around 3 and many of the animals were sleeping because it was so late in the day. The new elephant enclosure was amazing!! I can't wait until we get to go back later when it's nice outside. I told Sheldon we had to go back around 10am next time.
Little Malee was sleeping in the shade between her mother and aunt (the dad lives in Tulsa) so she was hard to get photos of. You can kind of see her under the trunk of the elephant in the foreground.
The girls were soo over the zoo after we walked to see the elephants. We're going by ourselves next time! haha
They really enjoyed feeding the ducks and taking photos with the statues around the zoo.
The highlight of my day was finding the peacock that roams freely around the park. He got really close to me which was exciting! I wanted him to spread his tail, but didn't want to piss him off so we just left him alone. I LOVE peacocks! They are just so beautiful.
The Lion water fountain has always been a favorite of mine at the zoo. They retire them and sell them occaisionally and I would love to get my hands on one some day. Weird dream to have, I know. I have a soft spot in my heart for the rescued bald eagles. One was shot and another was hit by a semi so they can't fly, but they're still so regal looking. Since I was a little girl, I've always loved watching the prarie dogs. There were a lot of babies this time, so cute!
There were a lot of animals we didn't get to see. The girls got restless really fast and we had to leave before we went through the whole park.
If you haven't been to the Oklahoma City Zoo, I highly recommend it if you are visiting. It's really big and has great facilities. They update something every year and it's been really exciting to see it grow over the years.
I rarely get to visit my parent's ranch in the spring. Everything is in bloom and I have horrible allergies,so I usually avoid it. But I really wanted to go down there for Mother's day to spend some time with my momma and thankfully my allergies (with the help of my meds) were good to me. On Saturday while my dad was having his blacksmith thing, my mom asked if I wanted to drive around the land and take my camera. She thought I might like seeing all the wildflowers in bloom and she wanted to check on her wild blackberry bushes to make sure she would have a good crop this year.
It was such a beautiful day!! Look at that sky! It was the perfect shade of blue and fields were the perfect spring green dotted with tiny yellow and purple flowers, baby's breath, and orange indian paintbrush.
I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've actually seen indian paintbrush in person. I wish they had more of it popping up everywhere. It's such a pretty color. The wind made it really difficult to get a non-blurry shot. The shutter was on it's fastest setting and still had problems. I should have changed to my 50mm lens but I didn't take it on the ride.
After our drive through the fields, we went to this little trail that I've always loved. I think it's the most magical looking place on their property (not counting the place we got married).
It has this tiny creek which is usually dried up but they had just had some heavy rains so it made it even better. I also really like the way the dappled sunlight spreads throughout this area. I just want to take a blanket and read there. The tree at the bottom right looked like it had a little burrow at the bottom. I wondered what kind of animal had been sleeping there.
It's times like these I wish I had the wide angle lens I've been coveting for two years. I'll get it one day and it's not like the ranch is going anywhere.
I kind of missed the cows. They sold them before the wedding and they moved off of the property in October. I didn't miss their piles of poop everywhere though! It was nice not having to watch my step.
Each granny square image above will lead you to the individual post for more information
I started the Square a day in May this week so the last few grannies are in different color palettes for that. I am loving this whole not having to pick my patterns thing. Anyone else want to host a month of granny-alongs so I don't have to pick another month?
Some fun news for Friday: I'm hopefully getting another niece today! Charlotte is working on being born in Las Vegas to my brother and sister-in-law. Christina's water broke about two hours ago after being induced last night so I'm anxiously awaiting texts and keeping up with updates on Facebook. Sadly, we won't be able to see Charlotte until July when we plan to take a family trip up to Vegas to meet her and do Vegasy things.
We're going to spend the weekend with my mom and dad for Mother's Day. My dad is having a blacksmith get together so I'm hoping I can get some good photos of them blacksmithing -- pounding hot metal? (I'm not really sure what they do). I need some practice with my action shots.
I realized right after I posted my happiness is... post on Tuesday that I forgot to put in some music. So since it's Friday I'm going to post this epic* performance of Rebecca Black's "Friday:"
I have major little girl crushes on Stephen Colbert and "Silver Fox" Taylor Hicks so this cracks me up like crazy every time I watch it. Only those three and Roots can take a horrible song and make it pure awesomeness.
*My SIL hates it when anyone uses epic so Xochit, that was for you ;)
This video of Smiling Indians shot and edited by Sterlin Harjo and Ryan Red Corn. I watch it like once a week because it always reminds me of Sheldon and his twin when they get in giggling fits and then I have a hearty laugh. I hope it makes you smile :)
A Granny A Day: Week 15
Happiness is...
